


i'm glad you stayed

by popnographic



Series: Rarepair drabbles [13]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 20:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5599105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popnographic/pseuds/popnographic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto's made his decision, even though it isn't one Sousuke understands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'm glad you stayed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ishka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishka/gifts).



> For the bee, a.k.a. [iska](http://iskabee.tumblr.com). I feel bad; she wrote gross (gr8) fluff, and then I wrote angst. I'm sorry! I don't know how to write fluff, so this is all I can do. Thank you for putting up with me, Iska. Seriously. ❤
> 
> Also, happy new year! It's 2016 and _man_ am I not ready for this year. At all.

Sousuke’s hand tenses around his, but Makoto tries his best to stay calm. If he isn’t calm, Sousuke is _definitely_ not going to be calm, either. So he’ll have to pretend he’s strong, even though just walking through the hospital scares the ever-living daylights out of him.

“You’ll do fine,” he murmurs to Sousuke, squeezing Sousuke’s hand in an attempt to get his boyfriend to relax a little. Makoto knows how much Sousuke hates hospitals, and as much as he dislikes them himself, he wants Sousuke to feel at least a _little_ better, considering what’s coming up.

He receives a mere grunt in response, and then a nurse comes to greet them, to separate them. Because this is as far as Makoto gets to go, and he’ll have to stay in the waiting room while Sousuke has his second shoulder surgery. He’s going to wait, even though he knows Sousuke doesn’t want him to.

Several hours later when Makoto’s driving them back home, Sousuke doesn’t look his way even once.

 

* * *

 

Makoto turns to lie on his back, and he closes his eyes. There’s a faint buzzing noise coming from their heater, but otherwise, the bedroom is completely silent, and Makoto loves that it can be, without him feeling the need to fill said silence with meaningless talk.

“You know,” Sousuke says after a while. “Sometimes I think about breaking up.”

“Yeah,” Makoto replies, slowly opening his eyes again. “I know.”

“Would you be sad if we did?”

Makoto frowns a little to himself. “Of course. Would you?”

“I’d probably cry, and that’d be a first.”

Makoto wonders if he should take that as a compliment, but he can’t really decide on what to make of it, so he doesn’t think anything of it. Or at least tries not to.

“I won’t leave you.”

“I don’t get why you’re staying.”

They’ve had this conversation multiple times. And Makoto figures they’ll probably need to have it several times more, for Sousuke to understand just why Makoto’s still with him. This isn’t just about Sousuke, about Makoto staying because he knows Sousuke needs him. This is about how Makoto wants this for himself, too. For once in his life, he’s being selfish, he’s being _really_ stubborn, and it’s all for a good cause.

Or so everyone thinks but Sousuke.

“I love you,” Makoto elects to say, instead of continuing their perpetual argument. “I really do.”

Sousuke sighs. Is it out of relief, a sigh in resignation, sadness, exasperation—Makoto can’t tell. “Love you too.”

It warms Makoto up a little, and he smiles to himself. It’s enough.

 

* * *

 

Makoto gives Sousuke all of the space he needs, and more. He knows Sousuke’s struggling, but firmly believes things will get better again. This happened one time before, and while it _had_ taken Sousuke a while to find his way back to Makoto again, he still did, and that’s all that matters to Makoto in the end. He knows it doesn’t matter what he says; if he tells Sousuke that he _isn’t_ a burden, and that Makoto’s staying because he wants to and not because he feels like he has to.

It doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t get through to Sousuke that way. Actions speak louder than words, which is why Makoto doesn’t say all of these things.

He knows better than to expect things. If they happen, they happen, and if they don’t, there’s nothing to be all that disappointed about. Sousuke’s given him a choice, and Makoto made his decision. He doesn’t regret it, not even a little, and maybe it’s naïve of him to think that good things come to those who wait.

But then they do.

Good things come in the form of Sousuke embracing Makoto from the back one night as they’ve turned off the lights, and Makoto’s just about to fall asleep. He doesn’t mind sacrificing a little sleep if it’s for something—for _someone_ —like this.

Sousuke softly rubs his nose against the nape of Makoto’s neck, lets out a warm breath of what is _definitely_ relief this time. “I’m glad you stayed,” he says, and Makoto smiles to himself again.

He lightly squeezes Sousuke’s forearm. “There was never any other option.”

“There was.”

“Not for me, because I didn’t want to take it.”

“I know. And I’m glad you didn’t.”

Not all journeys are like riding along a smooth highway with no bumps or speed limits. Some _do_ have speed limits, and places where you have to slow down. Sometimes there are bumps in the road, construction work going on that prompts you to take a detour. Even so, it’s worth taking the detour, taking things slow, coping with the bumps—because in the end, you reach your destination.

Sousuke and Makoto have reached theirs, and while the road they took to get here was bumpy and not always a smooth one, it was well worth it in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> [radiodread](http://radiodread.tumblr.com) @ tumblr


End file.
